Building a Robotic Sales Gong for Envoy
The gong is as fundamental to sales as learning your ABC’s. They’re not just for your sales department — the gong is an important part of sharing wins with the whole team. And, come on: it’s just plain fun.
At Envoy, we’re excited for every new customer and celebrate each one with a literal bang. There are other automated solutions out there, from an app that triggers the gong sound on everyone’s phone to a custom physical speaker box that plays a gong recording. But for ours, we wanted something more haptic.
Enter: Envoy’s GongPi
We paired a Raspberry Pi with a mallet to create what we lovingly refer to as GongPi. Our little robot diligently waits for a Stripe webhook to indicate a new customer’s first charge is complete. That triggers the micro servo to enthusiastically bang the gong, and a Pavlovian “yay” rings through the office. We’re hungry for new sales.
The same Stripe webhook is connected to our Slack #Biz channel, too. So when the gong chimes, the whole team can check to see what new customer we’re cheering for.
Putting it together
After a lengthy research phase, our bang-a-gong bot was assembled in a weekend. All the materials used can be found easily online for around $100. Surprisingly the gong is the most expensive part.
There’s more in-depth instructions on Hackster and the full source-code we use on the RaspberryPi is up on Github.
Get on the automation train
At Envoy HQ, we’re all about creating delightful moments in the office. If GongPi spikes your interest, you should check out our flagship visitor management software. Try a two-week free trial of Envoy at signwithenvoy.com.
Huge thanks to Wells Riley for building our GongPi.
